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Donetsk - The shelling of a bus and clashes
in Ukraine's separatist east left 34 people dead on Thursday as Kiev was forced
to abandon its defence of Donetsk's airport in one of the deadliest days of the
nine-month war.

In the worst incident, 13 civilians died
when shelling hit a trolleybus on Thursday morning in the rebel bastion of
Donetsk, with Kiev alleging that ultimate blame for the tragedy rested with
Russia.

The violence came only hours after peace
talks in Berlin called for a ceasefire and as the toll from the conflict surpassed
5 000 dead, with a million people also forced from their homes.

Another 10 000 people have been wounded by
rocket and mortar strikes raining down daily on the industrial region's
residential districts, Michael Bociurkiw of the Organisation for Security and
Co-operation in Europe told Ukrainian radio.

With intensifying clashes rocking Donetsk
airport in recent days, Ukraine's military said early on Thursday that its
troops had abandoned the main part of the site.

The airport had become the symbolic prize
of the conflict, with the army and pro-Russian rebels continuously battling for
control of the devastated site.

"Yesterday evening we made the
decision to leave the new terminal," military spokesperson Vladyslav Seleznyov
said in reference to the main airport building that had been held by Kiev
forces since late May.

'Children are very scared'

The trolleybus shelling was among the
bloodiest incidents involving civilians in recent months in a conflict that has
devastated the ex-Soviet republic's industrial heartland and brought Ukraine's
economy to its knees.

Stunned Donetsk residents gathered around
the shredded remains of the bus, with bloodied bodies of elderly victims
sprawled in their seats hours after the attack and local militias cautiously
inspecting the damage.

An official with the city's emergency
services said 12 people died in the bus while another was killed in a passing
car.

One resident who lives nearby said shelling
in the area the day before targeted a military academy housing a headquarters
for rebel fighters, killing two militia members.

"Today as the shelling began, some
people managed to escape from the trolleybus stop," said Maksim, a
35-year-old teacher.

"There are several ambulances and [rebel]
military police here. Children are very scared."

Russia's government-controlled television
immediately blamed the attack on Kiev's forces, while Ukraine said the rebels
were responsible and added that ultimate responsibility rested with Moscow.

"Russian terrorists again committed a
horrible act against humanity," Ukraine Prime Minister Arseniy Yatsenyuk
said in statement. "And responsibility for this is borne by the Russian
Federation."

The strike occurred just south of Donetsk's
city centre, with concerns having been raised over shelling that has at times
moved closer in from the airport northwest of the city, putting civilians in
increasing danger.

'Testing patience'

Thursday's violence came hours after the
foreign ministers of Russia, Ukraine, Germany and France ended a crisis meeting
in Berlin with a joint call to cease hostilities, but no breakthrough agreement
to stop the bloodshed.

The talks had been held against the
unpromising backdrop of fresh clashes and after Ukraine's president accused
Moscow of fuelling the war with fresh troops and tanks.

The four top diplomats in their statement
could agree to "call on all sides involved to cease hostilities and to
withdraw heavy weapons" back from a demarcation line agreed in the widely
flouted September truce signed in Minsk.

German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter
Steinmeier said the main achievement was that all sides had agreed that the demarcation
line agreed in the Minsk pact would form the basis for the pull-back of heavy
arms on both sides.

The talks had "tested the patience of
all participants", he said after meeting his Russian counterpart Sergei
Lavrov, who left the talks first, as well as Ukraine's Pavlo Klimkin and
Laurent Fabius of France.

US Secretary of State John Kerry accused
the rebels of attempting "a blatant land grab", while Washington's UN
envoy Samantha Power said Russia was pursuing an "occupation plan" in
the east.

Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko,
speaking on Wednesday at the World Economic Forum in Davos, said the upsurge in
fighting after a nearly month-long lull was prompted by a new surge of Russian
forces and weapons.

"We have more than 9 000 troops of the
Russian Federation on my territory, including more than 500 tanks and heavy
artillery and armed personnel carriers," he said.

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